THE DAY HEFFNER WAS TOSSED AND DOC BEAT BENES

Looking back on San Diego Union and San Diego Union-Tribune sports headlines from this date.

50 years ago ...

Derks Field in Salt Lake City was the scene as 739 fans showed up to watch the local Bees lose to the Padres 18-5. Padres manager Don Heffner was tossed in the first inning and Whitey Wietelmann managed the rest of the way. The Padres improved to 10-10 in the Southern Division of the Pacific Coast League … Hil Crosthweite, who had led S.D. City College to the Metropolitan Conference championship and second place in the State Juco basketball tournament the previous season resigned to join the school’s counseling program full-time. …

20 years ago ...

They were smokin’, hookin’ and tryin’ to forget on this day two decades ago. First the smokin’ — that would be the Lakers’ Vlade Divac (he wasn’t afraid to light up in the locker room after a game) as he beat the Suns’ Tom Chambers with a spin move that led to an 86-81 win over the Suns to give L.A. a 2-0 playoff edge … Next the hookin’ — the Padres’ Gary Sheffield described his uncle Doc Gooden’s curveball as a “hook from hell,” and it was this day as Gooden and the Mets beat the Padres and Andy Benes 3-2 … Finally, the forgettin’ — that was in Hamburg, Germany, where Arantxa Sanchez Vicario downed Steffi Graf to win the Citizen Cup as all concerned were trying to forget the fact that Monica Seles had been stabbed earlier in the tournament by a fan …

10 years ago

There were 20,595 at Qualcomm Stadium when Sean Burroughs (remember him?) bounced a single into right field, scoring a pair of runs as the Padres snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Phillies … John Stockton left Salt Lake City’s Delta Center in tears and then announced he was ending a 19-year NBA career … And in a Battle of the Birds, the Fresno Falcons beat the San Diego Gulls in overtime to tie their WCHL playoff series 2-2 …

5 years ago

The Padres lost 6-4 to the Marlins, which left them with a 3-13 mark over their last 16 games. “We don’t feel it’s (the season) slipping away from us,” pitcher Jake Peavy said that night … Four starters walked out of the Chargers’ locker room that morning with a variety of injuries, and that didn’t include Philip Rivers’ and LaDainian Tomlinson’s banged up knees.